News Articles and Links from May 24, 2013

      Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Peaceful Delta in danger of plunder From: Gene Beley, The Record I read Jerry Meral's May 19 op-ed piece in The Record, "Clarifying issues with Bay Delta Conservation Plan." He did not mention how BDCP's twin tunnel plan will use eminent domain to take away thousands of acres of Delta family farms. Coalition response...The Delta has undergone a slow but continual change dating back hundreds of years. The Swamp and Overflow Land Act of 1850 spurred substantial changes that created the islands found in the Delta. Cities began to pop up around and in the Delta. Each change resulted in benefits that ultimately favored California, but that have undeniably created a Delta that is vastly different from its natural state. History is poised to repeat itself with the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). The Legislature's 2009 mandate for co-equal goals includes both improved water supply reliability AND ecosystem restoration. Fixing the host of problems confronting the Delta will take a lot of work and may cause temporary inconveniences. That's a necessary part of returning the Delta to its potential as a vibrant and productive ecosystem and serving the water supply needs of 25 million Californians and thousands of farmers. Doing nothing means that the Delta will continue to collapse, which is unacceptable for water users and true advocates for the environment.

Supervisors fear Delta water grab From: Dennis Wyatt, Manteca Bulletin Frank Ruhstaller and Steve Bestolarides are rallying the troops as California's perennial water wars heat up. This time they warn San Joaquin County's economic vitality and ability to make local land use decisions without potentially kowtowing to a regional agency are at state. Coalition response...People incorrectly view the Bay Delta Conservation Plan's two tunnels as depleting the amount of water in the Sacramento River and the Delta. The water that will flow through the tunnels is that supply that is already legally contracted for by water users south of the Delta.The amount of water that will flow through the tunnels will be limited by the actual day-by-day conditions and flows of the Sacramento River. Studies have concluded that water diversions will likely be in the range of average exports over the past 20 years. When flows are high more water can be moved through the tunnels. When flows are lower less water will be moved...or none at all under dry conditions. Learn more at www.farmwater.org/exportthrottle.pdf. Supervisor Ruhstaller should understand that of the nearly 4,000 farmers in the San Joaquin Valley receiving water that flows through the Delta, most are family farmers. According to USDA statistics, nearly 96% of all farms in California are owned by families, individuals or partnerships and that percentage is likely representative for the San Joaquin Valley's southern and Westside that he attempts to vilify.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

The Buzz: Southern California lawmakers trumpet 'strong support' for Jerry Brown's water plan From: Jeremy B. White, Sacramento Bee North-south split on water includes House members Weather, terrain, culture - there are plenty of things to distinguish Northern California from the south state. Add to that list where House members stand on Gov. Jerry Brown's divisive plan to construct a massive new water delivery system in the state.

Fisheries

Wayward salmon trapped in canal near Willows From: Alastair Bland, Chico Enterprise-Record As many as several hundred adult endangered winter-run chinook salmon have been discovered in a shallow freshwater canal near Willows, where federal officials said Thursday the fish - which had been on their way upstream to spawn - may have been trapped for about five months.

Legislature

Delta-Related Bill Held in Senate Appropriations Committee From: Lisa Lien-Mager, ACWA An ACWA-opposed bill dealing with reduced reliance on the Delta was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee May 23.

People

Machado retires from Delta Protection Commission From: Gene Beley, Central Valley Business Times Michael Machado, who has served as executive director of the Delta Protection Commission since Sept. 20, 2010, announced his retirement at the commission's May 23 meeting in Courtland.

News articles and links from May 23, 2013

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Finding Common Ground in the Delta

From: William Reilly, The California Majority Report

Coalition response...The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) was commissioned with two objectives, creating a reliable water supply and restoring the Delta ecosystem. Years of scientific study have developed the present-day version of BDCP to accomplish those two goals. Recommendations that seek to insert other tasks into the BDCP process should be done in a way that doesn't overstep other processes where they may already be underway.

Water managers in California recognize that a diverse suite of challenges demand a robust toolkit of solutions. BDCP implementation will not hamper efforts to develop new solutions to these challenges, but will help to improve supply reliability and improve the Delta ecosystem. Local agencies will continue to complete local water projects to meet local and regional needs, as they do now, after BDCP is implemented. We will continue to update, refine and implement the State Water Plan (Bulletin 160) to meet broader challenges. All of these separate activities are essential to moving forward.

Successfully preparing for California's future water needs is critical, and will come through our ongoing efforts to give the challenges that exist and arise appropriate attention. Attempting to shoehorn them into the BDCP process gives none the consideration they are due.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Southern California weighs in on Jerry Brown's water plan

From: Capitol Alert, Sacramento Bee

Feinstein on BDCP

From: Alex Breitler, eSanJoaquin

Congressional Delegation Expresses Support for BDCP

From: Pamela Martineau, ACWA

Water Supply

Scientists visit Fresno to discuss San Joaquin Valley water woes

From: Mark Grossi, Fresno Bee

Groundwater

Tuscan Aquifer study results to be aired tonight during workshop

From: Chico Enterprise-Record

Levees

Plate piles keep levees intact

From: Wendy Wolfson, Research & News from Berkeley Engineering

Disaster Expert Predicts Trouble for Sacramento Area

From: Mark Demsky, Fox 40

News articles and links from May 22, 2013

Bay Delta Conservation Plan 

Skullduggery In the Water Pipes: Newspaper Condemns California's Plot to Solve State's Water Problems

From: Henry I. Miller, Forbes

Coalition response...It’s refreshing to see some deep thought and consideration of the full effects of California's water supply crisis as opposed to the steady drumbeat of opposition to the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. There are real consequences to not taking the bold actions led by Governor Jerry Brown. This article by Henry Miller strips away the phony arguments against BDCP and shows it for what it is - a solution for California that restores environmental resources and provides reliable water supplies for millions of Californians.

Letter: Gov. Brown should consider alternatives to tunnels

From: Dan Bacher, Sacramento Bee

Coalition response...Installing "state-of-the-art fish screens" at the south Delta pumps would not benefit fish, as claimed by the author, but would increase their risk and exposure to predator fish. Fish are currently pulled to the pumps along a channel that has become heavily populated with predators. BDCP's proposed tunnels and screens would divert water from the north Delta. Instead of trapping the fish at the end of a channel like in the south Delta, fish would continue their journey along the Sacramento River toward the ocean. The letter-writer's suggestion is a death sentence for fish.

BDCP provides the best choice to provide a supply of water to public water agencies that already have legal contracts for a certain amount of water. That supply becomes reliable under BDCP for 25 million Californians and thousands of farmers who are growing food for a world market. Reducing the delivery to only 3 MAF per year falls short of the existing contracts and would create higher water rates to urban users and force farmers to idle thousands of acres that would result in an increased reliance on imported food. Also, no criteria exists from the State Water Resources Control Board to support the author's position of reduced exports.

Letter: Delta community oppose Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP)

From: Yolanda Long, Sacramento Bee

Coalition response...Claims that the BDCP's proposed tunnels will "drain the Delta" are without fact and ignores studies already conducted by scientists and researchers who have worked for year in developing BDCP. The amount of water that will flow through the tunnels will be limited by the actual day-by-day conditions and flows of the Sacramento River. Studies have concluded that water diversions will likely be in the range of average exports over the past 20 years. When flows are high more water can be moved through the tunnels. When flows are lower less water will be moved...or none at all under dry conditions. Learn more at

 www.farmwater.org/exportthrottle.pdf.

Restoration of the Delta's ecosystem is also one of the goals of BDCP, which includes protection for fish species. For the past 20 years State and federal fish agencies have attempted to protect and restore imperiled fish species through regulating water supplies that has taken water away from 25 million Californians and thousands of farmers. The result has been money spent, water lost and socio-economic upheaval in rural and disadvantaged agricultural communities. Little if any improvement for these species has been accomplished.

If California is going to secure a reliable water future that includes a restored Delta ecosystem, then BDCP must move forward to reality.

Letter: Tunnel project ignores 40 years of scientific understanding

From: Richard Morat, Sacramento Bee

Coalition response...Over the past seven years the Bay Delta Conservation Plan has evolved using the largest body of scientific evidence for any project of its kind in California - more than 18,000 pages. That information is available for review at  www.baydeltaconservationplan.com. The letter-writer's criticism of the so-called "insatiable thirst" by agriculture is simply wrong. Between 1967 and 2000 the volume of farm production rose 89 percent while applied water remained almost flat, according to data from the Department of Water Resources and the National Agricultural Statistics Service. And more improvements have occurred since then as well. Between 2003 and 2010 San Joaquin Valley farmers invested more than $2.1 billion upgrading the irrigation systems on 1.8 million acres, enhancing their ability to efficiently grow food for much of California, the U.S. and consumers abroad.  How is that a bad thing?

Individuals and organizations too often use the term of "subsidized water" without fully understanding or explaining its meaning or benefits. The only "subsidy" that exists today is the result of action by Congress in 1935 when it waived the interest costs on building the Central Valley Project. That investment has returned billions more in new tax revenue from the farming operations and related businesses that depend on CVP water. Find out more about the economic benefits farm water brings to the economy at www.moneygoeswherewaterflows.org.

Sierra Club urges governor to rethink position on Delta tunnels

From: Kathryn Phillips, Contra Costa Times

Coalition response...Despite the Sierra Club's opposition to the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, Governor Jerry Brown is on the right track to help solve some of California's biggest water supply and environmental challenges. The Club claims to be concerned about the long term water supply needs of millions of Californians (not to mention thousands of food-producing farmers) but at the same time it ignores the reality of today's broken water system.

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan has been developed to benefit all of California through a reliable water supply and a restored Delta ecosystem. Years of scientific research have resulted in more than 18,000 pages of documentation that demonstrates that the co-equal goals within the BDCP is the right way to go - for water users and for the environment. 

In the end the Sierra Club asks the Governor to "fiercely protect and fight for the public trust of surface and groundwater resources, which belong to all Californians." Publicly the Sierra Club claims that water resources belong to all Californians. The problem with their plan is that it prevents millions of us from having much access.

Water supply 

17 News special report: Drought descends on Kern County

 From: KGET 17

Down to Earth: California Heads Toward Drought

From: KION 46/FOX 35

Groundwater

Minimizing groundwater nitrates with proper fertigation

From: Dennis Pollock, Western Farm Press

Transfers

Calif. Gov. Brown Eases Farm Water Restrictions

From: William Dotinga, Courthouse News Service

News articles and links from May 21, 2013

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Public invited to Delta forum

From: The Record

What they said

From: Alex Breitler, eSanJoaquin

Water Supply

IID water payback obligations pouring in

From: Antoine Abou-Diwan, Imperial Valley Press

Transfers

Gov. Brown issues executive order to streamline approvals for water transfers to protect California's farms

From: Press release, Office of the Governor

Gov. Brown orders streamlining of water transfers

From: Associated Press, Fresno Bee

From: Associated Press, Modesto Bee

From: Associated Press, KFMB 8

People 

State Water Project needs to revamp hiring process

From: Terry Erlewine, Sacramento Bee

Pay water workers more to prevent vacancies

From: Steve Lee, Sacramento Bee

News articles and links from May 20, 2013

Transfers

Letter: Don't take our water away

From: Dan Casamajor, Chico Enterprise-Record

Letter: Water wars are beginning

From: Elizabeth Devereaux, Chico Enterprise-Record

(The following comment is posted in response to the above two letters.) 

Coalition response...  

Water transfers are not allowed to take place without a rigorous review of potential impacts on area-of-origin water users, groundwater, environmental resources and more. These regulations require that no negative impacts may result from proposed transfers. Individuals and organizations that insist any transfer will deplete local water supplies should be aware that safeguards are already in place to address their concerns. Public participation in California water policy is important. Communication with local irrigation and water districts is an important first step because locally elected boards have the responsibility to oversee the decisions that affect their constituents. Short-term water transfers have proven time and time again to provide benefits to both buyers and sellers by moving water from areas of abundance to areas of need and infusing outside capital into local areas to upgrade and maintain infrastructure without raising local taxes or water costs.  

Deals for out-of-region water transfers have some calling for a halt

From: Heather Hacking, Chico Enterprise-Record

Coalition response...

Proposing that a regional body assume control over locally elected irrigation and water districts may not be a good idea. The board members that make decisions on how best to manage their district have the interests of their constituents to consider. Local accountability is important. That means that the decisions made by an irrigation or water district may not be popular with every voter when they're made to benefit the overall operation of the district. Delegating that responsibility to a regional authority means that local voters could lose their voice on important local issues.

Farming

California Farmers Explore Water-Conserving Agriculture For A Drought-Filled Future

From: Aviva Shen, ClimateProgress

Coalition response...   

There is a reason dry land farming has been declining in popularity, as the article states. It's just not as productive. According to a 2001 study by Peralta and Stockle, irrigation on land allows it to be twice as productive. Modern irrigation techniques, such as those widely used in California, have almost immensely increased crop production on the same amount of applied water as was used over 40 years ago. At a time when millions of people worldwide are entering middle income brackets and becoming larger food consumers, does it make sense to adopt old, less productive practices when they could hasten a global food shortage?  

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Guest commentary: Conservation plan is vital to Delta's survival

From: Paul Helliker, Contra Costa Times

Opinion: Clarifying issues with Bay Delta Conservation Plan

From: Jerry Meral, The Record

Another View: Delta plan still evolving as more is learned

From: William Stelle Jr., Sacramento Bee

Letter: Follow the delta canary

From: Charles Milor, Fresno Bee

Letter: Brown seeks to manage Deltas uncertainty

From: John Laird, Sacramento Bee

Letter: Science cannot explain greed

From: C.J. Jawahar, Sacramento Bee

Letter: Fish need water

From: Burt Wilson, Sacramento Bee

Water Supply

Modesto Irrigation District names several ways to adjust rates

From: Editorial, Modesto Bee

Delta

Delta plan a concern for local officials

From: Vacaville Reporter

Salton Sea

Exhibit celebrates and educates about the Salton Sea, then and now

From: Lynn Lieu, The Desert Sun

Dams

A tour of Hoover Dam and the Colorado River Aqueduct system  

From: George J. Janczyn, GrokSurf's San Diego

People

Editorial: Skilled workers are vital

From: Fresno Bee

From: Modesto Bee

News articles and links from May 17, 2013

FISHERIES

Fish Wrap: Salmon fishing outside the bay continues to run hot

Column

By Alastair Bland

From Marine Independent Journal - Thursday, May 16, 2013

Coalition response...Millions of acre-feet of water have been taken from agriculture to benefit fish since the passage of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act by Congress. Despite 20 years of water supply cuts intended to help fish, salmon numbers have continued to fluctuate through the years, meaning that dedicating more water to fish has not resulted in higher numbers.  

Scientists from the Pacific Fisheries Management Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service have identified poor ocean conditions---warm temperatures and reduced food supply---as the leading cause of the drop in salmon numbers.

In February 2008 a NMFS report (http://swfsc.noaa.gov/publications/FED/00994.pdf) concluded  that the overall cause of the recent salmon decline was ocean conditions. A year later the Pacific Fisheries Management Council reported that all the evidence they could find pointed to ocean conditions as being the proximate cause of the poor performance of the 2004 and 2005 broods of Sacramento River Fall Chinook --- http://www.pcouncil.org/bb/2009/0409/H2b_WGR_0409.pdf.  

Since the adoption of CVPIA, studies conducted by the California Department of Fish & Game and UC Davis have also shown a strong increasing trend in the abundance of warm water predatory fish in the Delta that feed on juvenile salmon as they make their way through the Delta.  The result is predator species consuming and replacing native fish in the Delta --- http://www.farmwater.org/centrarchids.pdf. The article doesn't mention it but that's the real reason salmon smolts are trucked around the Delta.

In contrast, public water agencies are translating science into action by supporting, developing and/or implementing solutions that address the need for multi-solution approaches, such as those found in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. Those solutions will increase both the quality and quantity of habitat diversity through ecosystem based management, as will solutions recommended by a range of science interests from Pacific Fisheries Management Council to the Public Policy Institute of California. 

Environmentalists and fishermen have the opportunity to be part of the solution but it will take a concerted effort to move beyond the old approach of simply blaming the pumps.

BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN

Making storage work

Blog

By Nancy Vogel

From BDCP - Thursday, May 16, 2013

DELTA

Council adopts final Delta Plan

Press release

From Delta Stewardship Council - Thursday, May 16, 2013

Delta management plan OK'd

Story

From The Record - Friday, May 17, 2013

Council approves long-range plan to manage Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta

Story

From Fresno Bee - Thursday, May 16, 2013

From News 10 - Thursday, May 16, 2013

Council approves final plan for Delta

Radio news

From Capital Public Radio - Thursday, May 16, 2013

Water group blasts Delta Plan

Story

From Central Valley Business Times - Thursday, May 16, 2013

TRANSFERS

Code Blue forum seeks common ground on water

Story

From Chico Enterprise-Record - Thursday, May 16, 2013

WATER BOND

State officials vet $11.1-billion water bond, regional water solutions in Malibu

Story

From Malibu Times - Thursday, May 16, 2013

What lies in store for the state water bond?

Blog

By Ellen Hanak

From California WaterBlog - Thursday, May 16, 2013

PEOPLE

State must pay enough to keep water workers

Editorial

From Sacramento Bee - Friday, May 17, 2013